You want to appear as a confident writer, but maybe you suffer a bit from imposter syndrome. 

Yeah, it’s a real stinker.

And that’s holding you back from sharing your amazing book with the world. When you started writing your book, you dreamed of impacting the lives of your readers. 

But you never thought about how difficult it would be to find a publisher and get your work into the hands of readers. 

Maybe, building your author platform never crossed your mind. 

It feels so overwhelming. You already have to edit and revise your book. You have to send your manuscript to editors, agents, and publishers. You've got to launch your book. And you're trying to get reviews for your new book.

Imposter syndrome is real. And it can be difficult to overcome.

But you don’t have to remain stuck. 

Overcome the imposter syndrome holding you back.

In today’s Art of the Brand: Author Edition episode with guest Jessi Beyer, you’ll hear about her imperfect journey to self-publishing, crafting a unique brand message and strategy, so she could own her expertise, expand her platform, and impact many as she became a bestselling author. 

All while struggling with imposter syndrome. 

And Jessi Beyer can show you how to kick it to the curb.

The real point of this week’s episode is to remind you how you can do the same: overcome imposter syndrome and use brand strategy to reach your goals. 

So come join me to learn how you can overcome imposter syndrome like Jessi. 

So what it’ll be, friend? 

 In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing: 

• Jessi Beyer’s journey to becoming an writer
• Her biggest struggle (spoiler alert: it’s imposter syndrome)
• Being a speaker and an author
• Her brand strategy
• The importance of being relatable to your audience
• A basis for her brand message
• Separating her professional and personal lives online 

Resources mentioned: 

• Follow Jessi: https://www.instagram.com/jessibeyerinternational/ 
• Jessi’s Free Training: https://www.jessibeyer.com/best-seller-training
• The Aspiring Author Incubator: https://www.jessibeyer.com/author-incubator 
• The 3-Step Framework to Jumpstart Your Author Brand: https://mcveytyson.com/free-course
• Paid promotion for your books: 
• https://www.booksbutterfly.com/ 

Music Credits: 

• Introduction Music: https://audionautix.com/ Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com
• Background Music: Naya by HaTom https://fanlink.to/HaTom
• Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
• Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/naya-hatom
• Music promoted by Audio Library Naya – HaTom (No Copyright Music)
• Outro Music: Modular Ambient 04 | Royalty Free Music  

If you enjoyed this episode, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast here. And if you're feeling extra inspired, leave a review here. I will be forever grateful to you. 

I have heard from authors time and again that connecting and interacting with their readers online is super important. But there’s some confusion about how to foster those relationships, especially when interacting online can feel so impersonal.

That’s where a brand strategy steps in to save the day. 

But, ugh! Isn’t that just going to take so much time? 

Yeah, it will. But before you go clicking away, just hear me out.

Imagine...

Imagine what building fantastic relationships with your readers can do for you. 

Okay. Got that in mind? 

Cool!

Now imagine staying exactly where you are in this moment without all those fantastic relationships with your readers. 

The truth can hurt

Not as pretty of a picture, is it? 

No, it’s really not. 

That might be a problem...

So you can stay exactly where you are now. 

Or you can invest the time to create a brand strategy that expands your author platform and can sell your books. 

So what’s it gonna be? 

The Solution

Well thankfully, you don’t really have to wonder whether it’ll be worth your time. 

I cover this exact topic in today’s video, but more in-depth. 

We’ll cover why a brand strategy can help you as an author and how you can start building connections with your readers.  

The 3-Step Framework to Jumpstart Your Author Brand: https://mcveytyson.com/ddrq

Website: mcveytyson.com

LET’S CONNECT!
Instagram: @annamcveytyson
Blog: https://mcveytyson.com/blog

Music Credits: 

• Introduction Music: https://audionautix.com/ Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com
• Background Music: Naya by HaTom https://fanlink.to/HaTom
• Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
• Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/naya-hatom
• Music promoted by Audio Library Naya – HaTom (No Copyright Music)
• Outro Music: Modular Ambient 04 | Royalty Free Music  

Sources:

• https://mcveytyson.com/authentic-brand-message/
• *Zag by Marty Neumeier you can find the book here: https://www.martyneumeier.com/zag 

*This is not an affiliate link.

Branding can seem like such a nebulous concept. 

Like, what even is branding? 

The easiest way to define it is “a brand is the perceived image of the product you sell, and branding is the strategy to create that image.” (Source)

In short, your brand helps people know who you are, what you’re about, and why people should care. 

Okay so now that that’s out of the way, what can a beginner do to catch people’s attention and stand out? 

Where you can start

So you can start with the way your brand looks (i.e., your logo), but that’s not going to set up your brand for success!

But why you shouldn’t

Your brand could look pretty, but you won’t have that brag-worthy brand. You’ll blend in with the crowd and possibly miss out on attracting your ideal readers, literary agents, publishers, etc. 

And what you really want is a brand that makes you stand out. Not something that’s so-so.

Caution: Truth Bomb ahead

The truth is that it’s too easy to DIY your way to a branded author platform that blends in with the crowd and lacks personality.

But don’t worry. 

I’ve got your back!

In today’s video, I give you a super simple trick to help you differentiate yourself from the sea of authors out there, even if you’re a beginner to this whole branding thing. 

The 3-Step Framework to Jumpstart Your Author Brand: https://mcveytyson.com/ddrq

Website: mcveytyson.com

LET’S CONNECT!

• Instagram: @annamcveytyson
• Blog: https://mcveytyson.com/blog

Music Credits: 

• Introduction Music: https://audionautix.com/ Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com
• Background Music: Naya by HaTom https://fanlink.to/HaTom
• Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
• Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/naya-hatom
• Music promoted by Audio Library Naya – HaTom (No Copyright Music)
• Outro Music: Modular Ambient 04 | Royalty Free Music  

Sources:

• https://www.pardot.com/blog/how-to-create-brand-messaging-that-really-resonates/?kui=D0f7x-QqSrQErzp7Uzy7iA#:~:text=Brand%20messaging%20refers%20to%20the,want%20to%20buy%20your%20product
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

The website is the home base for your author platform. Rather than Instagram where your audience can go view so many other accounts, your website is all about you. 

You have the opportunity to really show off who you are without any distractions from other social media accounts. It’s a definite must for every author--aspiring or published--both categories of authors can benefit.

However, if you don’t have a website yet, it can be tempting to go down the DIY route. It seems more affordable than hiring a web designer, but doing it yourself can lead to some...well...issues.

In this episode, we’ll be discussing: 

• What can happen if you DIY your website
• The top 3 mistakes authors make
• The best thing to do for your site

Resources Mentioned:

• Subscribe to my newsletter
•  Gift yourself my freebie

Music Credits: 

• Music Credits: Introduction Music: https://audionautix.com/ Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com Background Music: Naya by HaTom https://fanlink.to/HaTom Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/naya-hatom Music promoted by Audio Library Naya – HaTom (No Copyright Music) Outro Music: Modular Ambient 04 | Royalty Free Music

Sources:

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221516871_Trust_and_mistrust_of_online_health_sites
• Sillence, Elizabeth & Briggs, Pamela & Fishwick, Lesley & Harris, Peter. (2004). Trust and mistrust of online health sites. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. 663-670. 10.1145/985692.985776. 
• http://komarketing.com/files/b2b-web-usability-report-2015.pdf
• www.marshaelynwright.com

Sources consulted: 

• https://rocketexpansion.com/author-websites/
• https://www.sweor.com/firstimpressions
• https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/compelling-stats-website-design-optimization-list

Thank you so much for joining me today. If you enjoyed this episode, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast here. And if you're feeling extra inspired, leave a review

Let's revisit who can use branding and brand strategy. Do you think that only small business owners can use those tools? If you said yes, I'd beg to differ.  

How about authors, writers and visual storytellers? Can they use branding to their advantage? Well, I think that the answer is a big old yes. In fact, I'd say that branding your author platform is essential to your success.  

Today, we'll talk with published author Sierra Barela. She'll discuss her own brand strategy, messaging, and important brand visuals. She's even going to offer some free advice about how an aspiring writer can start to brand her own author platform. 

Stay tuned.

In this episode, we’ll be discussing: 

• What drew Sierra to writing [2:08]
• Her challenges as an author [5:24]
• The importance of the author platform for all authors [8:25]
• Copywriting, brand messaging, and branding her author platform [11:15]
• Sierra’s essential visual branding assets [15:22]
• Her branding advice for aspiring authors [18:50]

Resources Mentioned:

• Subscribe to my newsletter
•  Gift yourself my freebie
• Follow Sierra @sierravbarela
• Read Sierra’s books https://www.authorsierrabarela.com/shop

Music Credits: 

• Introduction Music: Water Wood & Stone Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com

- Transition Music: Music  https://www.purple-planet.com https://www.purple-planet.com

- Outro Music: No More by HaTom_music from Pixabay

Thank you so much for joining me today. If you enjoyed this episode, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast here. And if you're feeling extra inspired, leave a review here. I will be forever grateful to you.